The same man with different signatures received OVP and DepEd CFs

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (top) with COA audit team leader Atty. Gloria Camora is about a person named Kokoy Villamin who received secret expenses from OVP and DepEd. Adiong noted that although the certification receipts appeared to be signed by the same person, there were two different signatures. (Screenshot taken from the live broadcast of the House of Representatives)

MANILA, Philippines — Offices under Vice President Sara Duterte are facing another problem as the same person received two different acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for secret fund expenditures but showed different handwriting and signature styles.

At the sixth hearing of the House of Representatives committee on good government and public accountability held on Wednesday, Lanao del Sur 1st District Representative Zia Alonto Adiong showed two confidential fund (CF) ARs, one for the Office of the Vice President (OVP). ) and one for the Department of Education (DepEd) — both adopted by a guy named Kokoy Villamin.

Villamin signed the AR for OVP’s CF expenses last September 17, 2023. The AR on DepEd’s CF expenditure did not show a date, but it was also signed by Villamin, who appeared to be from Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental. Villamin’s signature in the OVP AR was longer than the signature in the DepEd AR.

Adiong asked Lawyer. Gloria Camora, team leader of the Audit Office Commission on Audit Intelligence and Confidential Funds, said that if the OVP and the recipient of DepEd’s CF expenditures are the same person – Camora also said they appear to be the same.

“The black ink part on the left is from OVP. On the other side, from DepEd. Please read the DepEd (AR) names,” Adiong said.

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“Mr. The President seems to share the same name, Kokoy Villamin,” Camora replied.

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“The point I’m trying to make, Mr. President, is that we have no other way of truly confirming, based on the documents and the confirmation slips, whether these people and individuals who received the secret funds are actually authentic. “Living and real (real) persons, we see that this is not credible, the names are the same,” Adiong said.

Adiong said that the name “Kokoy Villamin” is rare and cannot be two different people; he even noted that “Kokoy” appeared to be a nickname and not a real name.

“How improbable it would be to have two people with the same name, same spelling, same surname, same name (…) I think it is very clear, Mr. President, (OVP) is quite different from the approval receipt received by (DepEd). “The names are the same, but the signatures are different,” he said.

Adiong also asked Camora about the audit procedure of these transactions, leading the COA officer to admit that two teams checked these ARs.

According to the legislator, the presence of two different audit teams may have prevented the transaction from being marked immediately.

“Now, Mr. President, is it true that I want to ask this to the Lawyer? Camora, Mr. President, is it true that the OVP and DepEd auditors are different? Their resident auditors are different, right?” Adiong asked.

“Then yes. The resident auditor is definitely different,” Camora replied.

“Yes, because if they had a single auditor I think they would immediately flag this, why does this person look like one person but their signatures are different. Exactly the same spelling and exactly the same family name,” Adiong noted.

This isn’t the first time OVP has been called out for issues with their AR.

At the committee’s previous hearing last November 5, Antipolo 2nd District Representative Romeo Acop pointed out to the COA that several of the ARs were signed by an individual named Mary Grace Piattos; Mary Grace Piattos said this person had a name similar to a cafe, and the last one was the last one. The name is a famous brand of potato chips.

ARs signed by Piattos were part of liquidation reports discussed at the same hearing and referred to a £23.8 million secret fund covered by 158 receipts.

TO READ: P1-M reward for information about Mary Grace Piattos – Members of the House of Representatives

Meanwhile, Committee chairman and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua emphasized in a statement on Tuesday that the possibility of OVP hastily fabricating ARs for secret expenditures is a bigger problem than the alleged fake identities of the signatories.

According to Chua, the problem with Piattos is just the tip of the iceberg; because the signatory is only one of the names that signed 158 AR from the OVP.

TO READ: OVP’s possible fake invoices bigger problem than ‘Piattos’ – Chua

MTP and DepEd transactions are being investigated due to allegations of irregularities in the use of funds, especially CFs.

COA had previously issued a notice for MTP that P73.2 million of the office’s P125 million CF for 2022 was not authorized; This was a line item that many lawmakers said should not have been available in the first place because the original budget was prepared in 2022. former Vice President Leni Robredo did not have the item.

TO READ: Sara Duterte’s secret fund spending raises new, more suspicions

Regarding DepEd, it was revealed that DepEd under Duterte claimed that its CFs were used for a youth education program while the Armed Forces of the Philippines and local government units shouldered the expenses.

TO READ: DepEd under Duterte appears to be funding AFP training – solon